When employers and employees build trust, both parties develop a sense of ownership toward improving the company’s safety efforts. Safety meetings provide an opportunity for supervisors to showcase the company’s core values of safety to staff. These meetings also allow employees to share safety ideas and concerns with management, especially when management has created a safe atmosphere for open communication.
Lack of safety meetings was the second-most cited rule during L&I inspections in 2022! A safety meeting can simply be a ten-minute discussion on the proper use of a tool, a ladder, or any piece of equipment that your operation uses. Remember to log your topic and attendees in your safety binder. Should your company have an L&I Safety Inspection, you can show proof that you are actively discussing safety in the workplace.
Well-planned safety meetings are vital tools in building robust safety systems in the workplace. The monthly Safety Packets our Retro members receive are excellent resources for safety meeting topic planning. These packets are available here. Another tool is RS SafetyTV, which has a variety of videos to supplement safety presentations.
Showing employees how safety processes benefit them at work and home helps get them to engage in developing safety processes and activities. Safe workplaces experience reduced injuries, decreased injury severity, and a reduction in lost productivity.
Our safety team is available to help members with safety plans and topics for safety meetings. Contact us at 360-943-9198 x122, or [email protected]
